Masonry Magazine January 2001 Page. 63
Apprenticeship is the best system
Apprenticeship is the best system for certifying workers and improvements are essential. Many new apprentices will need to be recruited in the next decade. The Red Seal program must be expanded as too few masonry workers are now qualified. Enhancing national training standards is needed because of the widely varying apprenticeship programs among provinces. One potential solution here is a core curriculum for the masonry trades. The CMHRC will promote national initiatives and work with government to improve training standards.
Recommendation #6: Maintain Size of Workforce by Balancing Entry and Exit to and from the Trade, to Meet Projected Market Demands
More intense efforts are required to monitor the trades and attract new entrants. Both long-term trends and short-term cycles must be balanced in the plans for intakes. A target of increasing the number of certified masonry workers must guide the planning. Immigration should be viewed as an important tool for managing the labour market and encouraged by the CMHRC. Likewise, recruiting from non-traditional groups such as women and Aboriginal people should be included.
Recommendation #7: Improve Relations (Communication) with CCDA and PAC/TACS
The CMHRC must improve the industry's relationship with the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA) and provincial PAC/TACs. In particular, the CMHRC should accumulate and maintain a complete inventory of masonry training opportunities in Canada to provide an accurate and comprehensive reference source for improving training in the trade.
Recommendation #8: Improve Work and Career Opportunities Available to the Workforce
Upgrade training will add depth and breadth to a worker's career. In particular, masonry journeymen are traditional candidates for promotion to supervisor and management positions. Demographics and changing technology are threatening these opportunities. Also, the CMHRC recognizes that there are special needs to upgrade the workforce in refractory, renovation and restoration work.
Recommendation #9: Improve Labour Market Planning
The need for trained masonry workers will fluctuate between dramatic peaks and troughs. Planning to sustain the quality and quantity of the workforce will be a major challenge. Continuous monitoring and regular projections are essential. Even the best planning will often fail to anticipate events. Flexibility in management plans and mobility among the workers are key features of an effective human resource planning strategy. It is further proposed that masonry contractors, working with general contractors, could find means to extend seasonal working periods. This would increase the effective utilization of the workforce. These findings and the recommendations have been validated by industry and provincial groups and will be the basis for national initiatives. A crucial component of the implementation plan will be gaining further support from industry groups and each province for specific changes in labour market support systems. The committee recognizes that the authority and jurisdiction to manage most of these systems rests with these other groups. To effect change in the current situation, the onus is on the national group to prove the merit of its recommendations and to convince the industry, province or training institutions to change the existing situation. Care must be taken, with any new initiatives, to avoid duplicating or interfering with efforts now in place.
What is Next?
Efforts are underway to build a more complete work plan around the recommendations and secure the support of Human Resources Development Canada and the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship for the implementation process. If you are interested in participating in the next steps please contact John Blair or Ron Winkler for more information.
Twenty committee members were supported by over fifty participants in provincial groups, fifty contractors who participated in focus groups, 770 workers who filled in very detailed questionnaires, twenty suppliers who provided background on products and technology and fifty more industry stakeholders who carefully validated the final report.
Bill Empey is Managing Partner, Prism Economics and Analysis, 55 Eglinton Avenue, East, Suite 802, Toronto, ON M4P 1G8, Tel: (416) 484-6996
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